Confused, the group looked at Eisen after he revealed this fact before the old man quickly began to explain. "You see, he leaned in toward me for a second. Everyone else probably thought he threatened me somehow, but he actually didn't. Instead, he said "We're being watched," took a step backward, and showed me his 'Truth-Seeing Eyes' for a split second. Surprisingly, he's a champion to Aylrentyrth as well or at least another Gold Dragon with a similar gift." He told them before they continued looking at him in surprise as Xenia slowly nodded.
"To be honest, that makes way too much sense. I met him before, and it did feel like something was a bit off at that time. It was like he was trying to desperately get me to leave, now that I think about it." The High-Elf explained, looking at the quite large group around her that had gathered in Eisen's Group's Inn room.
"Huh, was he doin' somethin' weird at the time?" Brody asked, curious about what was going on before Xenia continued.
"No, he wasn't doing anything as far as I could see, but there was only one strange thing, and it was his assistant. I just got my Elemental Spirit Magic at the time, so I was using the 'spirit sight' basically constantly to see the different spirits, and there were no spirits anywhere around the assistant. And not only that, it seemed kind of like all of the spirits that followed me into the room were running away from him."
"Spirits can be scared of people?" Eisen then inquired, before Xenia nodded again. "Mhm, they can. Spirits 'see' or rather 'feel' mana. I was able to talk to a high-level spirit before, although just briefly, and she explained to me that different mana types or colors have different feelings. I'm guessing that the assistant had a very wicked type of mana." She told the group, before Eisen slowly nodded.
"That might be the case. You see, the lord is officially known as Zaran Grates, but his real name is Zaran Hastings." He said as he looked over at Komer, who stared back in surprise.
"Hastings? As in Antonio Hastings?" The young merchant asked, remembering the Elf that gave him his occupation back then, and Evalia quickly asked the question on basically everyone's mind.
"Who's that supposed to be? Should we know him?" She asked, and Eisen quickly shook his head. "No, I don't think I told you all his name yet, but I did talk about him. He's the Merchant that sold us out to the Chromatic Dragon faction." Eisen explained, and the group looked at him in surprise.
"Wait. What? So the lord of this town is related to the man that caused us to lose our experience?" Jyuuk summed up, and the old man swiftly nodded. "It seems so, yes. But it does make sense, doesn't it? Antonio is part of the Chromatic Faction, while Zaran is part of the Metallic Faction. Someone as cunning as Antonio that managed to trick five mock-deities like we used to be would surely want to keep an eye on someone from the enemy faction that is bound to know a lot of things about him. That assistant could be someone that Antonio sent, and he may be incredibly strong or has managed to force Zaran somehow to do what he wants in some way." Eisen speculated, looking over at the other Originals as he did.
"And you're sayin' that he wants to have a duel? Why would he, if he's such a good guy?" Brody asked slightly confused before Eisen shrugged. "I'm not sure. But he seems to be trying hard to get rid of the people at the church. I'll ask him when the fight is over what his reasoning behind all of this is. You're sure that you're fine fighting?" Eisen asked Brody once more, and the Demon-Orc swiftly nodded.
"Yeah, I don't mind. As I said, I'm kinda curious what kinda fighters they have here. Back in the wastelands, barely anyone was usin' magic, and if they did, it was either for lil' stuff or to blow shit up. Surely they'll have some people usin' magic in smart ways." He said, leaning back against the wall behind him.
"Oh yeah, definitely. We have a lot of Mages here, and the majority of Warriors use regular magic elements to fight. Like, defensive warriors using earth magic, or offensive ones using fire magic. Usually, most regular combatants don't use magic all that much. They usually have an element, but most of the time, they either don't use it, or it's a strengthening type." Xenia then explained, before the group continued talking about this whole thing with the fight, and how they would handle everything for now, before Eisen swiftly summed up their plans for now.
"So, for today, Xenia and I will take care of everything with the curse-breaking ceremony for Kirisho, and then we'll all meet back here to relax for the rest of the day. Over the next few days, while the five of us should be asleep, my party will take care of selling some items and look into where we can buy materials for the ship. Then, in four days, Brody will fight against the Zaran's champion, and I will do my best to finish up my second trial. I seem to be pretty close, so if we manage to resolve an issue like that, maybe it's enough to set me on the 'Path of Yang.' If not, I'll do my best to get this out of the way first, and then my group will make their way to the nearby mining town so that I can get some skills there. I'll do my best to finish all the requirements by the time I'm back, so we should be able to found the Guild then and start constructing the ship." The old man said, looking at everyone around him to see if everyone was happy of this way of doing things, and since the others were nodding, Eisen quickly checked the time and looked at Xenia.
"Alright, should we go? Can you do the ceremony anywhere, or does it need to be at a certain place?" Eisen asked Xenia, but she shook her head. "No, I can start it anywhere with an even surface."
"Got it, then you come with me. Kiron, Caria, and Melissa, you three too, but nobody else." Eisen told the group, before the old man walked up to the two little monster girls and picked them up, before the five of them made their way to the cave.
They made their way through the area on foot since they couldn't take Cabarum with everyone this time, and Eisen chose to ask the High-Elf next to him some questions concerning what he asked Xenia for earlier today.
"Did you manage to find out anything about Caria and Melissa's Mana Manipulation?" He curiously asked, before Xenia slowly nodded.
"Oh? Yeah, I did, actually. They simply have too few skills related to Magic. They need to have a proper basis so that they can Rank the skill up. Apparently, that's something with all monsters, according to Jyuuk." She explained, and Eisen looked over toward Kiron, who looked just as surprised as Eisen did.
"I did not know about that, M'Lord. It may be that this does not occur to me because I am Half-Human, and I do not have any issues learning skills or making them grow." He explained, before Xenia shrugged, scratching the back of her head.
"I guess? You'd have to ask Jyuuk, to confirm. He knows more about that stuff than I do." She said, and Eisen chuckled as he looked at the two girls he was holding. "Alright, then I guess we'll try and learn a few magic skills then, isn't that right, you two?" He said with a smile before both Caria and Melissa smiled and nodded, agreeing to do so.
After that, it didn't take too long until they found their way to the large cave opening at the end of the beach, and they swiftly made their way inside. Of course, Xenia waited at an open space in the front of the cave and began setting everything up with the help of Kiron and the two girls, while Eisen went deeper into the cave to get the Mist Spirit that was to be de-cursed.
When Eisen reached the place that seemed like an underwater-cave, he soon saw the three people he was looking for, with the two Dragons in their human forms while they were talking to Kirisho.
And the moment that they managed to see the old craftsman, they all began walking toward Eisen as well. "Ah, I see you're back," Ailren exclaimed with a smile before the old man responded with a nod.
"Yes, I am. I wanted to come to get Kirisho to get the curse on her amulet broken. Bol, I hope you don't mind, but the woman that's going to be breaking the curse is in the front of the cave setting everything up." He explained before Bol shrugged.
"That's fine. Is she one of the other 'peaked'?" The Ancient Bronze-Dragon inquired, and Eisen swiftly nodded. "Yes, she is. She's Xenia, the Original of Magic. Now then, Kirisho. Are you coming?" The old man asked before the Mist-Spirit happily smiled at him.
"Of course." She told him, before the two of them stepped toward the tunnel leading to the front of the cave, followed by Bol and Ailren.
When the group reached the spot where Xenia was busy setting everything up, it seemed like she was already nearly finished, and the cave's interior was illuminated my numerous magic-circles floating in the air, some were just for convenience, while others were directly specific for the whole ritual that was about to happen.
"Hm? Who're those old guys?" Xenia asked as she looked at Bol and Ailren behind Eisen before he loudly sighed.
"That's kind of mean to say, isn't it? This is Aylrentyrth, an Ancient Gold Dragon, and this is Bolremgar, an Ancient Bronze Dragon. Right now, they're in their human forms." Eisen explained before Xenia looked at them in surprise.
"O-Oh, sorry about that then. I'm Xenia, and I'll be taking care of breaking the curse today." She explained, quickly trying to move on to the next topic before Kirisho swiftly walked over to her and greeted her, while Xenia instructed her on what to do during the ritual. Taking that chance, Eisen looked over at the two ancient dragons next to him.
"Sorry, she's just like that." He apologized before Ailren laughed lowly and shook his head. "It is fine. After all, even if she may not feel like it, but she is technically my senior in age, is she not?"
"I guess she is." Eisen chuckled in response, before Bol looked at him curiously. "Anyway, how's the trial going? Are you properly working on it?" He asked before Ailren seemed to take a swift look at Eisen before nodding.
"It seems like his connection to the path of yin is still as strong as ever, but he is slowly building up a connection to the path of yang as well." He explained before Eisen slowly nodded.
"Yes, I've been working at the church, or rather their facilities, a little bit. It seemed to be one of the easiest ways to properly connect with people and show that I don't mean any harm." He explained before Bol spoke up.
"Ah, I see, I see. You seem to be close, then, so keep it up, alright?" The dragon asked with a smile before Eisen replied.
"Of course, don't worry. I think I'll get there soon. But there was something I wanted to ask you about right now, Ailren. Did you make someone called 'Zaran Hastings' your champion?" He asked before Ailren looked at him, surprised.
"Huh? Yes, I did. How did you know?"
"Well, I met him today. And I want you to tell me in detail about what kind of a person he is." Eisen told the Ancient Gold Dragon next to him, who slowly nodded.
"I see. I suppose I could tell you about it, but why do you want to know more about Zaran?" Ailren asked, and Eisen answered quite simply.
"Because I need to."